It’s been an incredible spring for Joshua trees in the Mojave Desert and throughout the Southwest. The strange and gangly desert forest is in the last stages of an unusually rich and widespread bloom. (Caitlin Esch/KQED)

Residents of a small artists community on the Oakland waterfront, near Jack London Square, are pondering what their future holds as the city moves ahead with a massive new development in their backyard. Robert Schultz collects art and has lived in the 5th Street community for about 34 years. (Deborah Svoboda/KQED)

Azucena Campos sits through her twelfth laser tattoo removal session at Valley Medical Specialty Center in San Jose. The city-run Clean Slate program has provided free tattoo removal for San Jose youth since 1994, provided they complete life skill classes and community service, as well as meet other criteria. (Julia Reis/ Peninsula Press)
Friends and family of Kayla Moore held a remembrance on April 17 in downtown Berkeley. Moore is the 41-year-old mentally ill transgender person who died Feb. 12 while in custody of Berkeley Police. Carl Butler, Jimmy Phady and Arthur Moore (from left to right) were among those who marched to the police station to pressure police to release information about the death. (Alex Emslie/KQED)

Author

Katrina Schwartz

Katrina Schwartz is a journalist based in San Francisco. She's worked at KPCC public radio in LA and has reported on air and online for KQED since 2010. She's a staff writer for KQED's education blog MindShift.